Terms of Service

Effective 3 October 2026.

1. Who we are

Tax agent services are provided by Shane Burns, a registered tax agent with the Tax Practitioners Board. ReturnTax is a trading name of The Burns Family Investment Trust, ABN 13 917 451 514, which is registered for GST. In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean ReturnTax, and "you" means the person or entity we provide services to.

These terms apply to this website and to every service we provide. By using the website or engaging us you agree to them. Your written quote describes the work and the fee for a particular job, and the two are read together. Where a quote says something different from these terms, the quote applies to that job.

2. Our services

We prepare and lodge income tax returns and activity statements, provide bookkeeping where records need it, and give tax advice in paid sessions. Your quote describes the work for your job. Anything outside it is quoted in writing before it starts.

We rely on the information and records you give us. We do not audit or verify them, and our work is not designed to detect fraud or irregularities in your affairs. We provide tax agent services and tax advice. We do not provide financial product, investment or legal advice.

Engaging us authorises us to act as your tax agent with the ATO for the agreed work, including dealing with the ATO on your behalf and being recorded as your agent. For companies, trusts and partnerships, the ATO requires you to nominate us as your agent in Online services for business before we can act, and we guide you through that step. We lodge a return only after you have reviewed and approved it.

3. Quotes, fees and payment

Every job starts with a written fixed quote, which you accept or decline. A quote stays open for 30 days. Our published prices include GST and apply when your records are tax-ready, as described on our pricing page. If your records are not tax-ready, the bookkeeping needed to get them there is charged at $80 an hour, with the hours agreed with you before any work starts and invoiced with your return.

For large or complex jobs we may ask for a deposit before work begins, and the quote says so. We invoice the return fee when your return is ready for your approval, and we lodge once the invoice is paid.

A confirmed quote does not go up because the job took longer than expected. It changes only if the facts change, for example another entity, another year, or records that are not as described, and we tell you before we do anything extra. Published prices can change at any time, which does not affect a quote you have already accepted.

If an invoice is not paid, we may pause work and hold lodgement until it is. Any consequences of a lodgement held for non-payment, such as a late-lodgement penalty, are yours.

4. Your responsibilities

To do our job properly we need you to:

• Provide complete and accurate information about your affairs, and tell us if anything changes before your return is lodged
• Answer our questions promptly so that lodgement due dates can be met
• Grant and maintain the access needed to prepare your work, and keep your contact details current
• Review your return before approving it for lodgement. You are responsible for the contents of a return lodged on your behalf
• Retain your own records for five years, as the ATO requires
• Pay your tax by the ATO's due dates. Using a tax agent does not change what you owe or when it is due
• Tell us about any letter or notice you receive from the ATO about work we have done for you

The ATO's safe harbour from some penalties for clients of registered tax agents applies only where you gave your agent all the relevant information in time for the return to be lodged by its due date. Late or incomplete information can cost you that protection.

5. Our responsibilities

We perform the services with due care and professional competence, maintain registration with the Tax Practitioners Board and the professional indemnity insurance that registration requires, and comply with the Code of Professional Conduct under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009. We keep your information confidential and handle it under our privacy policy.

If we find something that changes the job, we tell you plainly what it is and what it costs before doing anything about it. If we make an error, we correct it at no charge, including preparing any amendment and helping you ask the ATO to remit a penalty or interest that resulted from it.

6. Turnaround

Stated turnaround times are guidance, not guarantees. Preparation typically takes 5 business days from complete onboarding, but varies with complexity, workload and how quickly queries are resolved. Meeting a lodgement due date depends on your complete records and your approval reaching us in good time. Once a return is lodged, processing times and any refund are in the ATO's hands.

7. After lodgement

An engagement ends when the agreed work is lodged or delivered. Anything that comes later, such as an ATO letter or review, an amendment, an objection or an audit, is separate work that we quote before it starts. The exception is anything caused by our own error, which we fix at no charge under section 5.

We keep our working papers for at least five years. You can ask us at any time for a copy of your lodged return and of the documents you gave us.

8. Cancellation and refunds

You can cancel a job at no charge at any time before work starts. If you cancel after work has started and before lodgement, you pay a fair share of the quoted fee for the work done, and we tell you the amount before you decide. Once a return is lodged the service is complete and the fee is not refundable, except where the Australian Consumer Law requires a remedy.

We may end an engagement by written notice if we cannot get the information we need to do the work properly, if an invoice stays unpaid, or if continuing would put us in breach of our professional obligations. If that happens, anything you have paid for work not done is refunded. A deposit is credited against your invoice, or refunded for work not done.

9. Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot be excluded. Where the law allows us to limit our liability for a failure to meet a consumer guarantee, it is limited to supplying the service again or paying the cost of having it supplied again.

Beyond that, our total liability to you for a job, whether in contract, negligence or otherwise, is capped at the fees you paid us for that job. The cap does not apply to fraud or wilful misconduct, or to any liability that cannot be limited by law.

We are not liable for loss that results from incomplete, incorrect or late information from you, from your decision not to act on our advice, or from decisions or delays of the ATO. For business clients, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, such as lost profit or lost opportunity, to the extent the law allows. Where someone else contributed to a loss, our liability is limited to our share of it. If we incur a penalty or cost because information you gave us was false or misleading, you cover it.

10. Privacy, confidentiality and communication

How we collect, use and protect your information is set out in our privacy policy. Tax file numbers are handled under the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015. We keep your information confidential and share it only with the ATO, with the service providers who help us deliver the work, or where the law requires it.

We communicate by email, and we treat an email from your address as coming from you. Email is not completely secure, so if you would rather send sensitive documents another way, ask us. You agree to receive documents, including your return for approval, electronically. We send service messages and deadline reminders to clients, and occasional emails about our services, each with an unsubscribe link.

11. Using this website

The content on this website, including our guides and blog, is general information for Australian readers. It is not advice for your situation, it does not take your circumstances into account, and it may be out of date by the time you read it. Talk to us before relying on it.

The content, design and the ReturnTax name are ours. You may use the content for your own reference, but not reproduce or republish it without our permission. Links to other websites are provided for convenience, and we are not responsible for their content. The website is provided as is, and we do not promise that it is always available or free of errors.

12. The TPB register and complaints

The Tax Practitioners Board keeps a public register of registered tax agents and BAS agents. The entry is under Shane Burns, not the ReturnTax name, so search for him by name or open his register entry directly. The register is at tpb.gov.au/public-register.

If something goes wrong, raise it with us first at hello@returntax.com.au and we will respond within five business days. You can also complain to the Tax Practitioners Board directly. TPB complaints are made in writing through the online form at tpb.gov.au/complaints, where the complaints process is set out in full.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The version published on this page applies, and a change does not alter a quote you have already accepted. If any part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies. These terms are governed by the laws of Western Australia and the Commonwealth of Australia.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms: hello@returntax.com.au.